NorMel House Devotions

Read 2 Corinthians 4 What a comforting passage! God knows we are weak and sinful, so He gave us His Word. The Bible is filled with comforting passages to help us in and through the trials we will face in this life. Because we WILL face trials in this life, and how we respond to them matters. We can easily succumb to sadness, despair, bitterness, or anger, or we can turn to God. John 16:33 says, "In this world you will have troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" Yes, we will have troubles and trials, but we are not to lose heart! Though we go through trials, we will not be overcome by them. Even if we die, it is for and with Christ. God raised Christ from the dead, and He will one day raise us from the dead as well. Our text helps us to understand that although our bodies are wasting away, we do not lose heart because we know they are temporary. 1 Peter 5:10 says, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His e...

Read Proverbs 31:10-31, and Exodus 33:17-20 Beauty. So many people will do anything for it. The world is full of products, diets, and fads in a vain attempt to attain beauty. But what is beauty? The world defines beauty as a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form that pleases the anesthetic senses, especially sight. The Bible defines beauty quite differently. Proverbs 31 has quite a bit to say about what we, as women, should aspire to be. Proverbs 31:10 says, "A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." Beauty is found within your character, your spirit, and your attitude. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, "Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." What is in your heart will come out in all you say and do. If we keep reading Proverbs 31, we see that a beautiful woman is one who is...

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 and  1 Corinthians 6: 12-20 Today's text is a beautiful reminder that we are called to be holy; God wants us to be pure in all we say, think, and do. It is a call to action. We are to flee from sexual immorality because our bodies are meant for the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 says, "‭‭Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit." When we have sexual relations with others, we bind ourselves to them. But it doesn't stop there. In all we say, think, and do we are to be pure. That means that crude jokes, lustful thoughts and fantasies, what you wear, and how you present yourself all show what is in your heart. Someone who is pure at heart will not be se...

Read Levitcus 20:26 and John 17: 6-19 Our text tells us that to be holy is to be set apart from the world. John 15:18-19 says, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own, but I have chosen you out of the world, that is why it hates you." If we are set apart from the world, there should be an obvious difference between how the world behaves and how we behave. That difference will cause the world to hate us. To be holy is then to be different from the world; we are to be in the world but not of the world. Jesus prays about this in John 17 when He prays for His disciples. Several times throughout the passage, Jesus reminds us that we are in the world but not of the world, and the world will hate us for this. It is not our doing, but God who sets us apart and makes us holy. In fact, we were set apart from the world long before we even existed. We can see this in Jeremiah 1:5 where it says, "Before I ...

In today's text, we are called to be like the writer, zealous for God's house. What does it mean to be zealous for God's house? The dictionary defines zeal as showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective. Like the writer of our text, we, too, should be consumed by our desire to be in God's house. If we desire to be in God's house, we are showing love for God. It's hard to be zealous for something or someone you don't love. So we must first love God. Like the writer, we should be insulted when people blaspheme or mock God. Romans 12:11 says, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." So not only should we be enthusiastic in our pursuit of God, we should be intense and passionate with our desire to know God and be in His house. We are very blessed with being able to attend worship services. Loving God and being zealous for His house means we WANT to go to His house to worship; we're enth...

As God's children we are called to live a life that is different; we are called to be Holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16 says, "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”" Why must we be holy? What does it mean to be holy? What does that look like for us? Thankfully, God doesn't tell us to be holy and then leave us to try figure it out on our own. Scripture is full of passages to help us. So what does the Bible say about why we must be holy? Our text has our first answer. We are to be holy because God is holy! Leviticus 20:7-8 says, “ ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord , who makes you holy."...

Read Isaiah 43:14-19 The prophet Isaiah warned Judah that its sin would lead to captivity by Babylon. Isaiah also predicted the redemption of God’s people, just as He had rescued them from Egypt. Our text is in the middle of a comforting section on the restoration and regathering of the people of Israel. Isaiah 43:16-17 is a reminder of how God delivered His people from Egypt. However, he doesn't want them to dwell on "the former things." Instead, Isaiah is subtly pointing them forward to Christ's coming. Jesus is the way forward. Jesus, Himself, said, "I am the way, the truth and the light" (John 14:6). Our way to salvation is Jesus. We are to see and be thankful for God's forgiveness for our past sins and look ahead to Christ's coming. In the Israelites case, it would have been His first coming. For us, however, Jesus has already come, so we can look forward to His return. Our text not only calls Jesus the way, but He is also the only "water...